The Correspondence of Thomas Jefferson

By Subject

GOVERNMENT / JUST PRINCIPLES OF

No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying,
and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be
governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to
leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual
hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the
first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.
The firmness with which the people have withstood the late abuses of
the press, the discernment they have manifested between truth and
falsehood, show that they may safely be trusted to hear everything
true and false, and to form a correct judgment between them. As little
is it necessary to impose on their senses, or dazzle their minds by
pomp, splendor, or forms. Instead of this artificial, how much surer
is that real respect, which results from the use of their reason, and
the habit of bringing everything to the test of common sense.

I hold it, therefore, certain, that to open the doors of truth, and
to fortify the habit of testing everything by reason, are the most
effectual manacles we can rivet on the hands of our successors to
prevent their manacling the people with their own consent.